Model Railroad Planning 2017

[Ravenser]

This year's  Model Railroad Planning special from Model Railroader has been out for a couple of weeks - I picked up a copy at Alexandra Palace

 

There are 15 articles , covering 14 layouts in N, HO and O

 

This year's MRP is more about concepts or ideas , rather than a set of 15 layouts and their design. There are articles on the use of mirrors to expand horizons and conceal awkward intrusions, on scenic treatment of that dangerously exposed place the edge of the board, on an O gauge PRR layout where every location is set in a different decade, on "Hiding tunnels where none belong" , and on high-lighting and low-lighting scenic areas through different treatment

 

One article looks at the potential for including or even focussing on "traction" (ie interurbans and streetcars - think Manx Electric and Grimsby & Immingham) on a layout. There are two articles from British modellers - one from Peter Kirmond showing what he's been doing since Blea Moor retired from the circuit (a US roundhouse scene in O) and an N gauge exhibition layout from Ian Wilson. There are a pair of articles - prototype background and layout construction - on a MR project layout depicting a shortline industrial switching branch, and another, larger,  design for an "Urban Switching District" designed to be portable in an SUV. Another switching layout is build over the stairhead of a train room as a second project. Another article focusses on "Wyes as Layout Design Elements" in N , and another on modelling "CSX Cumberland Subdivision in N" There is a "Pop Quiz on Yards".

 

MRP is usually an eye-opening view of a very different philosophy and approach to model railways to our own , practiced and explained at a high level of sophistication. This one also offers approches and scenic techniques which are much more directly applicable to our own modelling . I may not be interested in the prototypes, but the approaches and concepts explored are well worth the money.

 

My copy cost £3.95

[davefromacrossthepond]

Ravenser,

 

Yours is an interesting post.   Your comment that "MRP is usually an eye-opening view of a very different philosophy and approach to model railways to our own" grabbed my attention.   Being here in the states I have read every issue of Model Railroader since the 1960s (my dad's) and nearly each years' Model Railroad Planning. In 2010 I stumbled across a British model railway magazine and had nearly the same thought as yours - it is fascinating the similarities and differences and I look forward to getting each new issue of the three British mags that I subscribe to.  I find the "different philosophy" very refreshing and a chance to learn new things.  Perhaps more importantly, through this forum, contact with British ebay sellers and several hobby shops, I've run across some top notch folks - the biggest thing the hobby on "my side" of the Atlantic has in common with all y'all over there.